72 Hours
by The Dancing Dead
Summary: 72 hours, it had been 72 hours since she had slept properly, 72 hours since she had eaten properly, 72 hours since she had heard those final words. (Spoilers if you haven't seen the movie.) Set post movie, one shot.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Pacific Rim characters used, just the original character.

Just a little idea I had for a one shot, hope its good.

* * *

72 hours, it had been 72 hours since she had slept properly, 72 hours since she had eaten properly, 72 hours since she had heard those final words.

"_What can we do sir?" Chuck asked, looking to Stacker._

"_We can clear a path for the lady." Stacker replied, a knowing look exchanged between the two men._

"_Well, my father always said...he said if you have a shot, you take it._ S_o let's do this! It was a pleasure sir." Chuck gave a nod to Pentecost as they prepared to detonate their nuclear bomb._

She had stood in the control centre, watching desperately as they made their attempt to end the war. She felt her heart crumble as she heard the words from the intercom. She never knew she could feel that way, never thought she would watch him die.

The war was over, the breach had been shut. She knew the world would move on and slowly rebuild to the way it was before. Then why did she feel the weight of the world crashing on her in an instant? How could she move on when she had lost the one person she had given her heart to?

Herc watched Chelsea for those 72 hours, watched as she crumbled into a shell of her former self. There was nobody in the world Chuck could talk to, no one he would open up to. Until he met her. Herc had seen his son become a completely different person around her, knew what she meant to him and what he meant to her. Watching Chelsea crumble was like losing his son all over again; she was all that remained of him.

People had tried talking to her, tried to get her to start living but it was just too hard for her. She had resigned herself to drifting away, fading into the distance, out of thought, out of sight. She didn't care anymore, nothing that used to matter did now that he was gone. She knew she was being selfish but she had shut down. So everyone just gave up on her. She was a lost cause, there was too much to deal with to focus on just one person. The world needed to focus on the future even if she couldn't do that.

But Herc hadn't given up, he needed her to live. For his sons sake as well as her own. And for the life growing inside of her, Chuck Hansen's unborn child. She needed to live for the child if nothing else. So he had watched her for the most painful 72 hours he had ever experienced.

"I know you don't want to hear this Chelsea, but you can't keep on like this. Think of your baby." Herc finally spoke. She looked at him with vacant eyes; they were tear stained but nothing had fallen in some time. She was numb to the world, stricken by the pain to a point beyond hurt. The only way for survival was to shut down and Herc knew this. "Chelsea please, don't do this." Her pale face showed no kind of response.

Just as he thought all hope of saving her was gone, a thought came to Herc, the only way he could think to get her to live again. He gently picked her up with no resistance from her and carried her towards the Jaeger pod bays. He quietly spoke to the technicians while she stood, staring into the distance, into the past where her mind remained.

He gently led her to the former active Jaeger simulator where the technicians helped him set her up. The only way Herc could think to get her back was for her to see him again, to say goodbye to him. Closure. Hell, he needed it too.

She felt herself being pulled somewhere as she was brought to the present; she felt the waves of Herc's memories wash over her as their minds connected in the drift. She felt and saw everything as did he, the pain, the joy, the heartache, the good times and bad. He watched her as she slowly began to wake up from the trance she had been stuck in for the last 72 hours, he felt her grasping at the memories of the man they both loved with everything they had.

"It's okay, let it in." He whispered to her in her mind before they both felt the memory attach itself to them.

_The blue ocean, glittering like it was made of thousands of crystals, shone in the light of the fierce ball of fire, lapping against the hot sand, cooling it at the edges. There was nothing quite like the sight of the Australian coast in the morning before the beauty was disturbed by those who had come to enjoy it._

_There were no sounds but the whoosh of the wind, the quiet cries of the sea birds and the gentle crashing of waves. It was peaceful, serene, bliss. At least it was for Chelsea; she liked nothing more than to wake early and sit on the beach, silent but deep in thought. She appreciated these moments more than ever now that the world was at war with creatures from a distant place, one deep in the ocean. She wasn't sure how much longer she would get to have moments like that._

_A noise sounded from behind her, the gentle movement of someone coming towards her. A smile spread on her face when she felt the familiar arms wrap around her and soft lips kissing her cheek. When he had sat down, she relaxed into him, feeling his warmth, different to the heat of the burning sun._

"_I thought I'd find you out here." His soft voice whispered in her ear._

"_Guilty." She replied, turning to kiss his lips, it was gentle but so much could be conveyed in such a small gesture._

"_What were you thinking about?"_

"_Just wondering how much longer this war was going to go on for? How long it would be before we could get away, just the two of us, away from all this." He smiled against her hair._

"_At least you know you're safe with me out there protecting you." She let out a little laugh._

"_I just hope you stay safe Chuck." Her voice dropped a little._

"_I'll never leave you Chelsea, I promise you that." He spoke sincerely._

"_You can't promise that." She turned to face him, eyes damp as the tears began to form._

"_I will always try my damn hardest to make it back to you. I love you so much." He leant down and their lips met, bodies in full contact for what seemed like an eternity._

_When they did break contact, their foreheads stayed together, eyes shut as they breathed in the smell of the ocean. "I love you too Chuck." She whispered against him, tears rolling down her cheek. "I don't know what I'd do without you."_

Herc's face was dripping in the tears that had fallen unbidden but he didn't have time to weep; Chelsea sat crumpled on the floor, all the emotion had finally broken through to the surface and she was drowning in it. He ran to her, holding her close to him, unable to let her go.

"He's gone! He's really gone!" She kept crying out between her sobs. He knew she had to let it all out before she could heal. His plan had worked but now he felt the hole growing inside him as his own pain surfaced.

"I know, Chelsea, I know." He tried with the best composure but his own tears flowed of their own accord.

"Im so sorry Herc, I've been so selfish. He was your son." She finally managed after what seemed like hours of relentless sobbing.

"We both lost him Chelsea." She wrapped her arms around his neck, gripping him tightly, pulling him as close to her as she could. "But we have to move on."

She eased off a little, looking down at her stomach. Her hand rubbed over her belly as she looked back into Herc's eyes nodding. "I know, I'm ready now."


End file.
